


Hello, I hope somebody was born for this

by gingerlegend



Series: Hello, I hope somebody was born for this [1]
Category: Heartstopper (Webcomic), I Was Born for This - Alice Oseman, Radio Silence - Alice Oseman
Genre: F/M, M/M, but its still there, just fluff don't worry, romance isnt a huge part of this, takes place several years after canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 19:23:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20431169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingerlegend/pseuds/gingerlegend
Summary: At Comic Con, Aled is doing a Universe City performance alongside Rowan. All fluff, like these character deserve after all they've been through.I may add an excerpt of the performance, but I'm not 100% sure.





	1. But this year is special

"I don't know if I can do this, Frances," I whisper to my best friend Frances. "Some of Rowan's fans look practically rabid."  
We're at Comic Con, and I'm performing for the fourth year in a row. But this year is special. Frances is dating a guy from a famous band, and she convinced both me and him that he should guest star on my youtube podcast series, Universe City. He's been on the show for the last few months, and that means he's joining me in the live performance.  
The crowd is gigantic this year. It's probably just about double what it was last year.  
Frances laughs. She probably thinks I was kidding about his fans being rabid.  
"What if something goes wrong?" I insist.  
"What do you expect to go wrong, mate?"  
She has a point.  
"He's a natural at dealing with annoying girls anyway," she adds.  
My boyfriend Daniel snorts from the corner. "He's dating you, after all."  
Frances gasps dramatically. "Rude!"  
I laugh. "Wow."  
Dan was reading something on his phone until he made fun of Frances. I glance back at him. He blushes and looks away before I can tell if he found Frances's reaction to his joke funny.  
He does that a lot actually. Even though we've been dating for over eight years. Almost nine.  
"Apparently Rowan just got here," Dan says, probably trying to distract me from his reaction.  
"How'd you know know that, Daniel?" Frances asks. "He hasn't even texted _me_ yet."  
Dan blushes even more. "Social media," he mumbles.  
"Frances, you should probably go find him," I say. "Make sure he doesn't get mobbed by fangirls."  
Frances rolls her eyes, but she doesn't argue.  
"If you see Carys out there, have her stop by," I add.  
"Alright," Frances says as she leaves.

Now I just need to relax. Dan can help me with that.  
I walk over to him and put my arm around him. He blushes, as per usual.


	2. Maybe he's like me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cue Jimmy and Lister's thinly veil romantic tension~

At the end of the performance, Rowan notices his bandmates in the audience.  
"Mind if I make them sing with us?" he whispers.  
I nod.  
"Jimmy, Lister, get on up here. We're going to sing with Radio."  
Jimmy's eyes widen. Listen grabs his hand and leads him up.  
Jimmy looks pretty tense.  
"You all right, Jimjam?" Rowan whispers to Jimmy.  
Jimmy nods, but he looks terrified.  
I realize suddenly that I haven't really talked to Jimmy or Lister before. I just know what Rowan's mentioned to me.  
Jimmy has anxiety, doesn't he? Maybe he's reluctant to perform with a stranger.  
There’s no time to deal with that though. They already know the lyrics from when they did a cover of it, and Rowan's been playing the guitar on the show since he joined. A stagehand brings him his guitar and we start the song.

> There's nothing left for us anymore  
Why aren't you listening?  
Why aren't you listening to me?  
There's nothing left.

There's a thunderous applause as we go backstage.  
We're done for the day.  
"Sorry for putting you on the spot like that, Jimjam," Rowan says.  
Jimmy nods shakily.  
"Aw, come on, Rowan," Lister says playful. "You're not gonna apologize to me?"  
"No," Rowan deadpans. "I'm not."  
"Mind if I introduce myself?" I ask. "I haven't done many casual introductions lately and I don't want to get rusty."  
Lister snorts. Jimmy watches me, still shaking slightly.  
"My name is Aled.”  
"I’m Lister Bird."  
"Jimmy."  
"And you know me, of course," Rowan says.  
Jimmy's stopped shaking, but he still looks uneasy.  
"Rowan's told me you three have lots of, er… overzealous fans," I say. "I, er, I can relate."  
Jimmy nods. "I've been a fan of yours for a while."  
That's something I didn't expect. That might explain Jimmy's unwillingness to look me in the eyes. Although I can’t be sure he doesn’t do that with most people.  
"Dan's been a fan of the Ark for a while now, although he only admitted it to me once Rowan and Frances got together."  
"Who's Dan?" Lister asks.  
"My boyfriend,” I say.  
Although it seems like Dan's out right now.  
“He was backstage earlier. Probably just stepped out or something.”  
Frances isn’t back here either. I think she was browsing the rest of the con during the performance. It’s a pity she didn’t get to see Jimmy and Lister join us.  
“Lister, I need something to drink,” Jimmy says suddenly.  
Lister frowns. “I’m trying to stay sober---”  
“Soda,” Jimmy interrupts. “Not alcohol.”  
“Oh.”  
“Come with me?” Jimmy asks.  
The two of them nearly hold hands, but they pull away simultaneously.

Rowan's scowling.  
"You alright, mate?" I ask him.  
"Er, yeah."  
I decide not to ask him about Lister and Jimmy, but I wonder what Jimmy thinks of romance. It’s not the type of thought I usually have about others, but maybe… Maybe he’s like me. Demisexual, or at least a-spec. I haven’t met many others like that. Not in person at least.

Frances pokes her head around the curtain. “Some of your friends are looking for you, Aled,” she says. “From high school.”  
“Is it Charlie and the others?”  
“I dunno,” she replies. “I can ask.”  
“Nah, I’ll go see them for myself.”  
“That’s what I was hoping,” she says, coming in. “I haven’t seen Rowan much lately.”  
I laugh. “He’s all yours, mate.”  
“Your friends are at my art booth. I made the blond guy promise to guard it with his life.”  
I leave the two of them to make out or whatever.


	3. Now I'm confident enough to agree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now for some of Aled's old friends to show up! Enjoy the fluff!

"Charlie! Nick! Tao!" I exclaim. "And even Tori's boyfriend! Michael, right?"  
Charlie waves at me.  
Michael laughs. "Nice to know I'm memorable."  
"Elle couldn't make it," Tao says. "Some family gathering, I think."  
"Alright, Aled?" Nick says.  
"Alright."

We take a minute or two to catch up. Nick and Tao do most of the talking, but Charlie chimes in occasionally. Michael just listens; he and I don't know each other very well. Apparently he's been a Universe City fan since the early days.  
"Who was that girl making all that fanart over here?" Tao asks suddenly.  
"Actually, Frances is my official artist," I tell him. "Isn't her art beautiful?"  
The conversation eventually drifts to the Ark, and how Rowan ended up on Universe City.  
"I saw Jimmy and Lister an hour before your show today," Tao mentions. "Are they together?"  
I laugh. "I don't think so. Not yet, anyway."  
"They clearly like each other," he says. "What's stopping them?"  
Nick whispers something in Charlie's ear. Charlie responds in a full voice.  
"I know right. I'm so proud."  
Tao glares at them. I can guess what their reference.  
"You've got another performance later, right?" Nick asks me.  
I nod. "And three more tomorrow."  
"I never would have predicted you performing like this," Charlie says. "Like, with a live audience."  
"Honestly?" I say. "Me neither."  
Charlie has a dimpled smile on his face as he speaks. "You were really awesome up there, you know?"  
I smile back. A couple years ago, I would have been too self-conscious to believe a compliment like that, but now I'm confident enough to agree.  
"I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" I reply.  
Tao and Nick both nod. Michael's texting someone, and I can't tell if he's been listening. He's pretty hard to read sometimes, especially since I've never talked with him without Charlie around.

My phone buzzes. A text from Dan.

> frances is driving me up the wall

> please save me from her nonsense

"I have to go," I say. "Are any of you seeing and of the other performances?"  
Nick shakes his head.  
"I have an appointment," Charlie says. "Nick's taking me there."  
Charlie sees a social worker. He's had some mental health issues, so it's pretty important. I think it helps him to have Nick around, but Nick isn't a medical professional.  
"I'm going to a museum after this," Tao says. "I forgot about your performances when I made the plan. I don't want to keep my, er, friend wait."  
I don't bother asking about that. He's blushing, so I assume it's a date. Tao doesn't tend to talk about love if he can avoid it.  
"I'll be there," Michael says. "I would have come even if I didn't indirectly know you."  
"That's very flattering," I tell him.

Now I have to go "rescue" Dan.  
My Daniel in distress.  
I'll have to tell him that pun. He'll hate it.


	4. If every day was like this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frances is so clueless sometimes. (I love Frowan so much, even though we dont even have a canon story with them together).

"Frances won't shut up about an idea she had," Dan says, scowling at his phone.  
Frances looks incredibly pleased with herself. She like coming up with dumb ideas for new Universe City episodes. Dan absolutely hates it, so she always tells him.  
"I'm dying to hear it, Frances," I say.  
And I am. I like her dumb ideas. They're _funny_.  
"Picture this: Radio finds an old woman on the streets of Universe City and of course he's confused. But then she's actually a vampire ninja princess from ancient times. Also she worships cthulhu because she likes that he's a jellyfish monster. But like, she's vegan and also quit being a ninja. She wants to infiltrate the government of the city and Radio's like 'hell yeah!'"  
Dan's practically hysterical. "Cthulhu isn't a jellyfish, he's an eldritch creature that looks like an amorphous octopus-dragon-person! And why is she a vampire or an ex-ninja? Is that even _relevant_?"  
Frances just grins.  
"Frances, you're breaking my boyfriend," I say, grinning. "He texted and asked me to save him."  
"Wow, Aled, you're such a hero," she says, holding her hands over her heart dramatically.  
"That means he's a Dan-sel in distress," I reply.  
Dan looks so betrayed. "I can't _believe_ you, Aled."  
Rowan's not here, I realize.  
"Where did Rowan go?" I ask Frances.  
"His friends texted him. Not sure why, but he said he'd be back soon."  
Dan rolls his eyes. "Not just friends, Frances. They're also his bandmates."  
Frances shrugs.  
I decide to browse tumblr for a bit. I always start with Frances's blog (touloser). That's where I originally found her Universe City fan art, before I even knew it was her. She doesn't upload as often anymore, since any Universe City art she makes is official nowadays. Her most recent posts are some of the art that went unused during the last arc, along with some gifs she made for a canceled arc. Dan was going to voice a new partner of Radio's, but he changed his mind. Frances was a bit annoyed, since she worked pretty hard on the gifs for his character.  
He doesn't think he's a good actor. To be fair, he's right about that. And Frances was a bit too eager to make the gifs.  
I come across a sketch of Rowan. It has more notes than most of her posts get. I don't think she answers her asks anymore, but there is definitely some hype about the sketch.  
I close the app.

Dan is playing Frances some music from his phone. I've heard this one before actually.  
"Who's this by again?" Frances asks.  
"The Ark," Dan responds.  
"Never heard of them."  
Dan is speechless. He looks at me for backup.  
"Frances," I say. "We've been through this. Who do you know that's in a band?"  
I'm speaking so slowly I'm surprised she doesn't get upset. I sound pretty patronising.  
"Rowan's in a band, I think."  
Dan and I exchange a glance.  
"He's in the Ark, Frances!" Dan practically shouts.  
"Oh, really? Are they famous?"  
Dan facepalms.  
How can someone as smart as her be such an idiot sometimes?  
"She's hopeless," I mumble to him, and he nods.

Rowan isn't back yet, and we're performing in 15 minutes.  
I've texted him repeated, panicked, and he just keeps replying with "i'll be there" and "don't worry" and "dealing with lister" and it's not helping ease my nerves.  
"He'll be here, mate," Frances says. "If he couldn't make it, he'd tell you."  
I nod, but I can't convince myself that she's right.

Rowan made it back five minutes before we begin our performance. He didn't explain himself.  
The performance is spectacular under the setting sun. Much more how I imagined the scene than the earlier performance.  
By the time we perform the song at the end, the sky is dark, with stars scattered throughout.  
It's so perfect.  
A perfect scene, a perfect performance, a perfect crowd, a perfect day.  
If every day was like this, I think I would like that very much. Even with the anxiety, since it all turned out fine.  
I would like it very much if every day felt like this one.


End file.
